Nutrition Psychology. A dietitian explains which non-dairy milk is best for you. A open letter to Marion, Benji and Nathaniel (Business Insider)

I wrote this open letter to registered dietitian and associate professor Marion Groetch and writer and video producer at Insider Business Benji Jones and Nathaniel Lee, to comment on their narrative about milk replacement products. Based on some science based references, I argue that their narrative is false. 4 pages.

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Hi Marion, Benji and Nathaniel,

I read/saw your article/video where registered dietitian and associate professor Marion Groetch talks about milk-replacement products.

Marion Groetch, registered dietitian interviewed by Benji Jones and Nathaniel Lee (Business Insider). 

 I have one or two objections.

First, what Dr Groetch talks about it's not milk, but various milk replacement liquids, most often coined ultra-processed due to various ingredients and processes used to produce them. You claim that the market for these products are soaring, but in fact it's the opposite - it is plunging. Check out this graph by Julian Mellentin.

Lactose intolerance is an issue for many people, but 65% of the world's population (your claim)?

Homo Sapiens Sapiens have consumed dairy long before they could tolerate lactose (Curry, 2021).

Dr. Groetch points out that these replacement products are low in protein, but you don't ask her if plant-based proteins are as good as animal source protein?

Itkonen et al. 2021 and Tong et al. 2020 independently showed, using RCTs, that replacing animal source protein with plant-based stuff is a bad idea. Zheng et al 2023 point in a similar direction:

“Moreover, individuals following a plant-based diet typically have lower dietary calcium and protein intake than omnivores” (p 11).

Dr. Groetch:

“So soy has about four grams of fat per cup, and again, these are healthier fats than the fats that you might find in a 2% milk.

Really?

Dehghan et al. (2018) showed that “Dairy consumption was associated with lower risk of mortality and major cardiovascular disease events in a diverse multinational cohort”.

Ramsden et al. (2016). Re-evaluation of the traditional diet-heart hypothesis: analysis of recovered data from Minnesota Coronary Experiment (1968-73).

Nutrition coalition, summary of science rejecting the diet-heart hypothesis.

Dr. Groetch then goes on to talk about vitamins and mineral content of these replacement liquides. They have to be fortified, for example with calcium. That's one reason these liquids are called ultra-processed.

In 2014, Wallet Willet of Harvard claimed that you should drink two servings a day of whole milk, for the calcium.

Liebe, Hall, and White (2020) showed that dairy contain most of the nutrients our species need to sustain physical and mental health:

The current system provides sufficient fluid milk to meet the annual energy, protein, and calcium requirements of 71.2, 169, and 254 million people, respectively. Vitamins supplied by dairy products also make up a high proportion of total domestic supplies from foods, with dairy providing 39% of the vitamin A, 54% of the vitamin D, 47% of the riboflavin, 57% of the vitamin B12, and 29% of the choline available for human consumption in the United States.

Marion, Benji and Nathaniel, Choline is not even mentioned in your article!?

See Dr Christine Smith brief lecture on choline for an orientation. Your conclusion is not about choice of milk, but about choice of replacement liquids that are questionable from a health perspective.

Also Read: (Österberg, 2020) Wow! Oatly should apologize to milk farmers and change the color of it's liquid. For Ethical reasons

Österberg (2023). Meat, eggs, and whole dairy. FAO now supports my conclusions from 2021. That's great!

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